Talltail's Talltales
by CinderPeltLover
Summary: During a storm, Tallstar tells some kits some tales that you never would've thought about...


p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"A bright streak of lightning lit up the gray sky, turning it white, followed by a roar of thunder. "Everyone, in the badger sets! Quick!" A dark brown tom was standing at the entrance to an abandoned badger set, his eyes glowing with fear, guiding queens, kits, and elders in first. "Tallstar! Deadfoot! Help the warriors and apprentices!" A black tom limped over to the warriors while a black and white tom rushed to where the apprentices were huddled together, his long tail streaming out behind him. The apprentices were huddled together, and the black and white tom struggled to herd them into the badger set. When they got in, the apprentices rushed in and huddled together again. A light brown kit came up to him. "Tallstar, will you tell us a story? It might help us take our minds off the storm." "Of course I will, Heatherkit," Tallstar answered, "I'll tell you more than one, and some stories that have been buried in the sands of time, and haven't been even thought about, until now." Heatherkit's eyes lit up, and the rest of the kits came up, and sat around Tallstar, waiting anxiously for the elderly leader to begin./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""The first tale is one you will never forget for as long as stars are in the sky. Tell me, have you ever wondered on how Silverpelt was named?" Tallstar asked. An almost black kit answered for all. "No, we haven't."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, I'll tell you. There was once a leader named Poplarstar, and he even led WindClan."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What did Poplarstar look like, Tallstar?" A ginger tom asked. Tallstar thought for a moment./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I believe he was dark brown tabby, with dark green eyes, but I may be wrong." He answered, "But anyway, he had only one kit, and she was a beautiful, silvery-white cat with the sleekest fur you could ever imagine, and her eyes were as green as the moorland's grass itself. Her name was Silverpaw. Her mentor was a black tom. His name was Falconwing, I think. Yes, it was. But anyway, one day, when they were training together, some horses came running by. Falconwing ran, his orange eyes were now a fire made of fear. But Silverpaw was frozen with fear. The horse trampled her, and with the Twoleg on it, it crushed her even more. Falconwing grabbed her and dragged her back to camp. While she was dying, Falconwing told Poplarstar that she was also almost done with her training. So, Poplarstar gave her a warrior ceremony, naming her Silverpelt. Only a few heartbeats after, she summoned up enough breath to repeat her name with everyone else, and she died, right there. Poplarstar almost couldn't sleep that night. He felt he had nothing else to do, so he looked up. He saw his daughter's silvery-white pelt, made of a thick band of stars. "Silverpelt? Is that you?" Poplarstar asked to the stars. "Are you up there, where you belong?" A gentle voice answered beside him. "Not at this moment. I want to stay with you." Poplarstar looked at Silverpelt. "Oh, Silverpelt!" His eyes started to water. "Do not grieve, father. I am with StarClan. I want to stay, but I cannot. I must go. Goodbye, Poplarstar. We shall meet again, one day." She leaped up, running up what seemed as an invisible hill, disappearing into the band of stars. "Your memory shall carry on forever, Silverpelt. Your band of stars shall be named after you. There will never be another Silverpelt again."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What happened next?" The ginger kit asked again./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, Weaselkit, Poplarstar told his Clan. Then, at the next gathering, he told the other leaders. So far, there hasn't been another Silverpelt, and her memory has been spoken every day, not knowing that Silverpelt was a cat. Poplarstar's strategy for her memory worked."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Tell us another one!" The almost black kit exclaimed. They hardly noticed the booming thunder now./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, there was once a ShadowClan apprentice named Moonpaw. He was a thick furred, gray tom, until moonlight touched him. When that happened, his pelt turned into a bright, silvery-bluish color. And his eyes were the color of moonlit sapphires."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What are sapphires, Tallstar?" One of Morningflower's kits asked./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""They are rarely found on our moor. It is said to bring good luck if you find one. A loving mate, long life, and, if you continue to follow the warrior code, guaranteed access to StarClan when you die. But anyway, Moonpaw was always put off because of his size and strength. But he was actually quite strong, and at the time, there wasn't a place in the forest to communicate with StarClan. Even though Moonpaw wasn't the medicine cat's apprentice, he still went to find a place for not just ShadowClan, but all the Clans: ThunderClan, WindClan, RiverClan, SkyClan, and ShadowClan."/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Who was SkyClan, Tallstar?" The dark gray kit asked./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""It was an ancient Clan. In fact, Firestar just got back from a journey to reunite SkyClan. From what we know, he succeeded. But anyway, on the night of the half-moon, he began. He searched far and wide, going around the Clan's territories, making bigger and bigger circles, until, finally, he found a huge cave, with a completely dark inside. He walked in nervously, using scent, sound, and touch to guide him. After going through winding tunnels, he smelt cold. Yes, he smelt the cool air in a slightly lit up cavern. He went in, getting colder and colder. He couldn't see anything, and he thought he may die in a cold darkness. He could have simply followed his scent trail, but he was too afraid to even think. Finally, moonhigh came, and right at that moment, the cavern was filled with a blinding light. After Moonpaw's eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a big crystal right in the center on the cavern, and a hole in the top, shafting in moonlight, causing Moonpaw's pelt and the crystal to glow wildly. He looked around to see cats from StarClan that he knew. His dear sister, Larkkit, his father, Thornpelt, his friend, and was going to be his mate, Tigerfern, his first mentor, Oakfoot, and the leader while he was a kit, Brownstar. "Hello, Moonpaw. You've found a place for cats to communtcate with us." Larkkit told him. "For that we thank you." Brownstar told him as well, her blue eyes glistening with pride. "I know that Boulderstar should do this, but I will anyway. I, Brownstar, once the leader of ShadowClan, call upon the rest of StarClan to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of our noble code, and I commend him as a warrior to us in his turn. Moonpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"/p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I do," Moonpaw answered./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Moonpaw, from this moment you will be known as Moonstone. We honor your bravery to find a place for all of the Clans to share tongues with StarClan, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ShadowClan. And you do realize that this is what it will be called?" Then Brownstar, Larkkit, Oakfoot, and Thornpelt disappeared. But Tigerfern was still there. "I won't forget you Tigerfern, I promise. I will avenge you one day by killing Berrythorn in battle, killing him exactly how you were killed." He told Tigerfern. "Oh, Moonstone," Tigerfern started, "There's no need. Really. We can still see each other in dreams." And then she disappeared, just like the others./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Wow, Tallstar, You're a great storyteller!" The almost black kit mewed./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Thank you, Crowkit. Oh, listen! The storm is cleared up! Let's head back to the real camp." And so, everyone bounded happily back to camp, over the soaked grass./p  
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"PS: I haven't read Dawn of the Clans, so...Yeah./p 


End file.
